These Hands are Meant to Hold
by backinthebox
Summary: "It's not that I don't understand why you don't want to leave the Bellas, I just don't understand why you would stall your own life for three years just to stay." Conversations between Aubrey and Chloe, circa PP2. With a side of Staubrey.
1. A Fireside Talk

The Aubrey/Chloe friendship in Pitch Perfect means everything to me, clearly. Spoilers for both movies.

Heavily-implied Aubrey/Stacie, so if that's not your thing, you probably shouldn't read this.

And this can be read as a sequel to Welcome to the Lodge at Fallen Leaves, or a standalone. Whichever works for you.

Inspired by Electronis Zappa's Fireside Chat.

(ETA: edited to fix some continuity errors. Cheers.)

* * *

"It's not that I don't understand why you don't want to leave the Bellas," Aubrey said softly, taking a sip from the cup of (very spiked, very Irish) coffee she held in her hands. "I just don't understand why you would stall your own life for three years just to stay."

Chloe sighed. She knew the conversation had been a long time coming, since she had been avoiding every and any one-on-one time with Aubrey since the _second_ time she had failed Russian Lit and stayed at Barden. Except for one particular exception, she and Aubrey hadn't really spent much time together in recent memory. Because just as she knew Aubrey to the letter, Aubrey knew how Chloe worked. However, with Beca's recent emotional withdrawal and the Bellas all working towards graduation, Chloe had realized how much she had missed talking to her best friend, which was why she had relented when Aubrey invited her to sit at the campfire. But that question? "You think I haven't asked myself that question every day for the past few years?"

"I'm sure you have." Aubrey answered. "So my next question is, what answers have you come up with?"

Chloe shook her head, glancing away from her best friend's knowing gaze and directing her own to the camp house beside the fire pit. "I don't know." She finally turned back to Aubrey. "I'm not like you. I didn't plan my entire future up to the last detail, that every step was heading somewhere."

"You know that isn't true."

"Yeah, the 'running a retreat' thing is still a surprise, but you own your own business and make a lot of money. That was the plan, right?" Chloe asked.

"Plans change."

"But I bet your girlfriend didn't mind this particular change of plans." Chloe pointed out. "At least you got the girl."

Aubrey narrowed her eyes at her. "So this is about Beca. _Again_. As usual."

"Aubrey."

"Chloe, you're..." Aubrey exhaled. "You're one of the best people I know. Top two, probably."

"Stacie wins top spot?"

"No, you're tied, because she can be really selfish but we both like her being on top."

Chloe laughed at that, because that kind of innuendo just spoke of Stacie's influence on Aubrey, and it was always nice to see Aubrey less guarded than she usually was.

"The point is," Aubrey digressed, "you've always drawn people to you. You're kind, and generous, and-"

"And some day my prince will come." Chloe interrupted. "This isn't just about Beca, Aubrey."

"You say that, but is that really true?" Aubrey glared pointedly at her. "And I did an actual course on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, do you want me to start using that?"

"Seriously?"

"It was one of the requirements."

Chloe shook her head. "No, I think I'd prefer talking to my best friend, thanks."

"Then you really need to, how did the troll put it? 'Sack up, dude.'"

Chloe laughed again. "You really shouldn't be saying those words."

"The point." Aubrey pointed at her. "Is that you deserve better than to time-share the hobbit with a Treblemaker. He never understood her the way you did, and I don't know how much times have changed, but you would never have let her unravel like this."

"I don't know, I've been pretty stressed." Chloe admitted.

"Because you've somehow convinced yourself that the fate and future of the Bellas rest on your shoulders." Aubrey reminded. "And, I know I helped make you think that, when we were captains, but that girl Emily's a Legacy. She knows the Bellas, she knows what it means. You've got to start letting things go."

Chloe gave her a sad smile. "But you left."

Aubrey frowned, confused.

"When you graduated. I let you leave, and," Chloe shrugged. "You just never came back."

"Chloe..."

"I know, not literally, I mean you'd drop by to see Stacie, but we stopped having, you know, _this_ ," Chloe motioned to the two of them as they were now, sitting together, alone and actually _talking_.

"And that's my fault?" Aubrey asked defensively.

"When you and Stacie started dating, you two made arrangements, plans on when and where you'd meet." Chloe argued. "When you graduated we didn't even set a standing Skype date."

"Yeah, because I'm neglectful and she's flighty." Aubrey protested. "If we had plans - set plans - it was a constant reminder that there were two of us in the relationship."

"You were my best friend!"

"And I would do anything for you!" Aubrey declared. She shook her head. "I let you take Beca into the Bellas, against all my better judgment - and thank God that worked out. But we're _family_ , Chloe. You and me, remember?"

Chloe smiled faintly. "Chaubrey forever."

"Chaubrey forever." Aubrey agreed. "Stacie and I have standing dates because that's just how our relationship works. But I would have been on a plane to see you the minute you asked me to. Just because I wasn't around didn't mean I was gone." She gave Chloe a pointed look. "And don't think I've forgotten who's been avoiding me and my calls for nearly two years running."

Chloe looked away guiltily. "What? Who? I don't know what you're talking about."

It was true, though, whether or not she admitted it. When Aubrey and Stacie started dating, and Aubrey made the occasional trip back to Barden, it had been on Chloe's second year of her extended stay at Barden; and if Aubrey had been disappointed in the fact that Chloe had deliberately failed Russian Lit during their senior year, they both hadn't known what to say to each other regarding the fact that Chloe hadn't tried much harder the second time around. The fact that the Bellas now gave more credence to Aubrey's role as Stacie's girlfriend than as Chloe's best friend was enough proof of how they had both allowed their friendship to wane in the succeeding years.

"Let's be honest, we were both surprised when you finally asked me for help about Worlds." Aubrey said.

"Yeah, because you wouldn't commit to helping because you were 'busy'." Chloe made air quotes with her fingers.

"I just didn't see how I could have helped." Aubrey admitted. "My taste in music's been described as straight-up white-girl radio with a cross-section of musical theater; and you were always the one who came up with choreography. I can put the fear of aca-gods into them, but how far would that have brought you?"

"But you came through."

"Because Stacie called me up to complain that an aca-dictator had taken over Chloe Beale's body." Aubrey told her. "And then there were emails from Fat Amy. And Cynthia Rose. And Ashley. And Jessica. Even Lilly complained. Trust me, when Ashley and Jessica _both_ email to complain that someone's being a psychotic dictator, having known me at my finest dictatorial form, then you know there's a problem."

"And what do you think?"

"The same thing my own best friend told me three years ago." Aubrey smiled faintly. "Maybe someone needs to loosen the reins a little bit."

"Really? Not tell me to get my head out of my ass because it isn't a hat?" Chloe retorted.

"That too. But Chloe, seriously. You could pass Russian Lit any given day. Failing it's funny once, maybe-but-not-really twice, but three times, and heading for a fourth? You're better than that." Aubrey said softly. "And if the emotional paralysis still won't leave you alone, you can have a job here, we'll set up something for you."

"It's not so much the emotional- wait." Chloe looked at her, curiously. "Here? Really?"

"It's not teaching music to children, but we do need nightly entertainment around here. How's your exotic dancing?" Aubrey quipped, laughing when Chloe shoved her. "Hey!"

"You can't pay me enough." Chloe remarked. "Frankly, I'm surprised your counselors haven't been formed into an a cappella group."

Aubrey smiled. "Drunken campfire singing doesn't really lend itself to seamless harmonies."

"Who's drunk?" Fat Amy asked, coming up to them, trailed by the rest of the Barden Bellas. "I could use some buzz."

"We don't serve alcohol to paying guests until their last day." Aubrey informed her. She turned when she felt a familiar hand rest on her shoulder and squeezed, and she smiled at Stacie as the younger girl walked past to sit on a chair.

"That still blows my mind." Ashley muttered audibly to Jessica, then ducked behind the blonde when she saw Aubrey glare at her.

"This is kind of a private-" Aubrey saw Emily holding a bag of marshmallows, and sighed in defeat. She really wasn't about to disappoint and demoralize a Legacy. "Oh, marshmallows. Yay."

"S'mores, actually." Emily said, gesturing to Lilly, who carried the chocolate and crackers.

"Of course." Aubrey allowed. She took another sip of her coffee.

Chloe squeezed her arm in a silent gesture of gratitude for allowing the rest of the group to join their campfire talk. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, the tent got really boring." Cynthia Rose admitted.

"We really thought you'd at least let us sleep on actual beds," Jessica agreed. "With the day we had, and everything."

"We're fully booked." Aubrey smiled apologetically. "It was a tent or the gym."

Stacie gave her another 'WTF?' look, the both of them knowing there were better tents than the one the Bellas were staying in; a look which she ignored.

"What were you talking about?" Fat Amy asked, as Chloe handed out skewers for them to roast marshmallows with.

"Chloe's hat." Aubrey deadpanned, making Chloe throw her a disbelieving look.

"I know what you mean." Beca agreed. "It's just too hard wearing too many hats, you know?"

"And you have such a tiny head." Aubrey commented.

"As opposed to your over-inflated one." Beca returned.

It was a testament to the growth of their friendship that Aubrey took that one without retaliation, and merely raised her cup in concession.

"It's just everything's changing so fast and I'm putting this much pressure on myself, you know?" Beca continued. "I don't want to fail."

Aubrey glanced at Chloe, who was watching Beca. How the girl who had joined the Bellas without a care in the world ended up caring about so many things, Aubrey knew, could be blamed almost entirely on the redhead who cared about everyone.

Aubrey knew because Chloe had done the exact same thing before, with a girl who only cared about her own goals and ambition, but made - _forced_ her, really - to care about a group of misfit freshmen (and Denise).

When Chloe confessed to being scared, Aubrey couldn't help but feel bad that with Chloe's earlier confession, Aubrey had played a part in instilling that fear, that she'd never reached out to Chloe to tell her that life after Barden wasn't so bad, that there were a lot of good things in the world outside.

So _maybe_ she'd squeezed Chloe's arm a little too tightly in her attempt at reassurance.

As everyone talked about their post-graduation plans, Aubrey cut a glance across the fire, and met familiar green eyes with a knowing gaze.

Aubrey knew Chloe wasn't the only one she owed a talk to about the future.


	2. All the Things That's Been and Done

This is my take on the prompt left by Fruith, which I hope meets what you wanted to read.

* * *

Everybody always said that high school were the best years of your life. Whether or not they were being honest or sarcastic about it, she didn't know, because high school hadn't been much of anything to her. Sure, she'd been popular, and had been friends with pretty much the entire student population, but those were people she had grown up with, and could she really say there had been anything particularly life-changing or significant about her time in high school? When she graduated, she didn't look back, and hadn't really kept in touch with the friends she'd had there.

Now, college. College was a different story. For Chloe Beale, _college_ , and Barden University, had been the best seven years of her life.

Yes, something happened after the first four years that had made her stick around for an extra three, more than the fear of graduation and moving on, of leaving the safe haven of Barden and the Barden Bellas; graduation had been paralyzing in how daunting the prospect was. But for all those years she'd had the Barden Bellas, a group of girls with whom she had grown up, had learned who she was, and figured out what she was capable of. The Bellas had been her family, her home, for seven years, and with graduation she would be leaving that behind.

And, here she was. Up at too-damn-early on the morning of graduation day, vacillating between trepidation and excitement.

Chloe glanced at the other bed in the room beside her own, where Stacie was fast asleep, and sighed. She wished she had someone to talk to.

As if on cue, her phone rang. Quickly answering it as to not disturb her roommate, she pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"What are you doing awake at this hour?"

"Says the girl who called me." Chloe quickly shot back, grinning happily at the sound of her best friend's voice. Funny how going nearly two years with only the rare phone call could make her miss someone's voice. "It's graduation day. What's your excuse?"

"Something blew up in one of the cabins." Aubrey answered. Her voice took on an apologetic tone. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

"I know nothing about things that blow up." Chloe paused, then grinned. "Other than you."

"Hahahaha." Aubrey said dryly, and Chloe could hear a cacophony of sounds on Aubrey's end of the phone call. "So funny. Maybe you should do stand-up. Do jokes while doing some exotic dancing. That job offer still stands, by the way."

Chloe held the phone to her ear with her shoulder, unable to locate her hands-free headset, and put on her bathrobe. "Why are you calling?"

"Catastrophe at The Lodge." Aubrey started. "And, well, there's a good chance that maybe Stacie won't kill you when you tell her..."

Chloe stopped abruptly, one foot in her slippers and the other not quite there yet. "You won't be here this afternoon."

"Doesn't look like it, no."

Chloe frowned. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, Chloe."

"No, it's..." It wasn't fine. She had spent the first four years of college with Aubrey, and the blonde had been her first real best friend, and was still the person she trusted the most.

And she wasn't going to be present at the culmination of Chloe's college life.

Aubrey always said that Chloe was generous and selfless, but in that moment, Chloe wanted to be selfish beyond reason, and demand Aubrey to show up, that there were at least a dozen other people at The Lodge at Fallen Leaves who could attend to whatever was happening there.

"So..." Aubrey was utterly transparent in her desperation to move past the awkward silence. "What are you doing up?"

"I don't know. Excited, I guess." Chloe said, her voice a little more subdued than it had been earlier in the phone call.

If Aubrey noticed, she didn't give voice to it. "Have you seen the cap and gown?"

"Yeah."

"Is it still that unflattering shade of green?"

"Yup. Same as when you wore it." Chloe told her.

Followed by another awkward silence, because that was a cruel reminder of how, when Aubrey had graduated, Chloe had been there for her.

Chloe cleared her throat. "Stacie got honor cords."

"Yeah, she told me."

"You know, between the two of you, science should really figure out how to get two women to form a child. Because I'd vote for your offspring to become President."

"Who will probably either grope herself onstage or puke her guts out."

"Woman with a plan, though." Chloe noted, making her way out of the bedroom she shared with Stacie and paused at the stairway that led to the third floor loft, where Beca and Amy stayed. Hearing only the low sound of music, she continued her way downstairs. "Stacie told me you've decided to go to Harvard business school?"

"Oh, did she?" Aubrey laughed. "I literally _just_ got the investment offer that's going to help pay for Harvard."

"You are so whipped." Chloe laughed as well, knowing the reasons why Stacie had made the executive decision to start telling people that Aubrey would be going to Harvard, one of which was the fact that Aubrey had actually been accepted to its undergraduate program years ago, but her father hadn't thought she had enough will or perseverance to see it through, or to succeed in such a competitive environment. "I'm graduating and you're going back to school. That's just weird."

"I hate having to listen to these MBAs who treat me like I don't know anything, you know?"

"Oh, does it suck to have your ideas shot down because they think they know more than you?" Chloe asked sarcastically.

There was a pause, then, "you know, I have a feeling you're trying to convey something relevant to our lives, but for the life of me I can't tell what it is."

A beat, before they both started laughing.

Still laughing, Chloe declared, "I can't believe you're gonna move to Boston."

"Trust me, the part of me that's a Southern gal can't believe it, either."

"Good thing your girlfriend's from the Mid-Atlantic. Let her keep you warm at night."

"Yeah." Aubrey paused. "Did you know she thinks everything south of DC counts as the South?"

"Break up with her. Break up with her right now." Chloe joked, feigning offense. Being born and raised in Florida, she felt Aubrey's South Carolina-based indignation keenly.

"Right?" Aubrey laughed.

"Have you explained to her what the Deep South is?"

"I tried, but..." Aubrey's voice trailed off.

Chloe couldn't help but chuckle. "Let me guess. Your Geography lesson turned into an Anatomy lesson?"

"In my defense, if Stacie Conrad wants to give you an Anatomy lesson and teach you about the Deep South, you let her."

"Is that permission?" Chloe teased.

"Oh, funny. So funny." Aubrey deadpanned. "Too bad humor's not part of the Bellas' set for Worlds, you'd kill it over DSM."

Chloe made a face, settling on one of the couches in the living room. "Don't remind me."

"It's a good set, Chloe." Aubrey was quick to assure.

"I'm still worried about the technicality."

"Chloe. I read the rules. Do you trust me?"

"You know I do." Chloe smiled. "Especially when it comes to rules."

"Exactly. Then you know it's above board." Aubrey reassured her.

Chloe, who had been about to confirm her trust in Aubrey, was startled by a loud car horn on Aubrey's end of the line. "What was that?"

"Uh," Aubrey paused. "I guess the repair guy's not happy with being woken up this early."

"Don't you have two engineers in your staff?"

"And we still called a technician, can you believe it?" Aubrey exclaimed.

"I'm just glad Lilly's in Engineering. Between her and Cynthia Rose, we never had to call a technician around here." Chloe took a moment, and glanced around the living room, at the place she had called home for three years, and then sighed deeply. "Did you feel like this?"

"Frightened and unsure of the future?" Aubrey guessed, that deep sigh coming through the line loud and clear. "Yes."

"What made you get past it?"

"A job that wouldn't wait." Aubrey admitted. "I did everything I thought I would in the four years I was in Barden. We won the ICCAs, I wasn't just the girl who puked at the Lincoln Center anymore. I loved being in Barden, even that nightmare of a year with Alice as Bellas captain, but there was always a world outside. You're right, when we were talking back at The Lodge: each step was always leading somewhere. But that's true regardless. You just need to decide where you want to go."

Chloe smiled. "When did you become so philosophical?"

Aubrey groaned in response. "One of the companies we had early on insisted on a meditation guru. Which of course the crew themselves had to be acquainted with."

Chloe laughed. "Did Aubrey Posen do yoga? Please tell me you did yoga."

"Consider me aca-freaking-enlightened."

Chloe burst out laughing, startling herself, and instantly tried to quiet down, remembering that nobody else in the house was awake. "You did yoga!"

"The upside is that I now know that those rumors about tantric sex? Actually true."

Chloe's laughter immediately died. "God! Gross, Aubrey! I don't need to know that about you."

"Did I say I know that firsthand? No."

"Yeah, but, come on. You're sleeping with Stacie. I've been kept out of our room when you'd be in town, you know. Not fun. And there's a reason why we banned you two from having sex in the house." Chloe groaned. "I hate you so much right now."

"Wait, that's why I have to find accommodations when I visit her in Barden?"

"Yes."

A pause, then Aubrey gave a murmur of agreement. "Good call."

Chloe groaned.

"So what's the plan, Beale? What happens to Chloe Beale after graduation?"

"You mean after winning Worlds?"

Aubrey laughed. "Yes. After winning Worlds."

"I was hoping for some R&R at The Lodge at Fallen Leaves."

"Oh, were you?"

"I heard there's a spa _and_ an in-house masseuse over there." Chloe told her. "And - and correct me if I'm wrong - my very best friend in the world supposedly can be found there."

"I can confirm the spa and the masseuse," Aubrey answered. "That best friend can be elusive, though. And kind of a bitch."

"'Kind of'?" Chloe repeated with dull incredulity.

"Still so funny." Aubrey replied. "Yes. Absolutely. Consider it my graduation gift."

"What? No. I want an actual gift." Chloe protested. "Why are you being a cheapskate?"

"I have to pay for Harvard." Aubrey reminded. "And _your_ graduation present to _me_ was a scrapbook of our time together in Barden."

"Yeah, because unlike _some people_ who owns her own corporate retreat, I hadn't quit a six-figure annual salary to scam companies into paying for a bunch of team-building exercises." Chloe shot back.

"Does it even matter it was on the lower end of six-figures?" Aubrey asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you from all the ka-ching sounds that follow your voice." Chloe joked, imitating a cash register.

Aubrey scoffed. "We can't all be do-gooders who are content with being karmically rewarded by wanting to teach underprivileged children."

"We are the world, Aubrey." Chloe quipped. "We are the children. We are the ones who make a brighter day so let's start giving." She stopped singing. "And by that, I mean, you should give me stuff."

"Uh huh. Like what?"

"I hear diamonds are a girl's best friend."

"Yes, uncut diamonds that sell in the black market are awesome trades for best friends." Aubrey agreed. "You just might get to become an exotic dancer, after all."

"You can't be mean to me, you're missing my graduation."

"So if I don't miss your graduation, I can be mean to you?"

"You can't be mean to me at all." Chloe pouted.

Aubrey laughed.

"How's your catastrophe going?" Chloe asked.

"It's being handled, I'm sure." Aubrey replied.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "You're not supervising?"

"I've been told that some of my methods of supervision can be... counter-productive." Aubrey admitted.

"I could have told you that."

"And as I recall, you have." Aubrey returned. "Repeatedly."

"Just saying."

"Uh huh." Aubrey paused, and Chloe could hear some weird sounds on Aubrey's end. Like... a car door?

"You OK?"

"Other than the fact that some idiots thought they could mess with the wiring of one of my cabins so they can hack the wifi? I'm fine." Aubrey answered. "And, by the way, when you do come over for your graduation/victory R&R, ask me for the wifi hotspot that works, because we scramble most of them during the day."

Chloe gasped. "Is that why none of us were getting our emails? Or sending status updates?"

"You were supposed to be building teamwork skills, Chloe, not catching up on social media." Aubrey reminded. "Open your door."

"What?"

"Open the front door, Chloe."

"Why?"

Aubrey sighed in exasperation. "Why do you think? Open your door."

"Do you have breakfast?"

"Open the door and find out."

"I don't know, Aubrey, the girls are sleeping and I don't feel comfortable opening the door alone."

"But you can keep your front door unlocked?"

Chloe turned quickly, and squealed an unholy, almost unnatural sound - especially given her node-removal surgery three years ago - and scrambled over the couch so she could jump into the blonde's arms. "What are you doing here?"

"It's your graduation, silly." Aubrey reminded. She shrugged. "And Stacie's, so between the two of you, I didn't really have much of a choice."

"But... The Lodge...?"

Aubrey shook her head. "Some idiots tried to rig the wifi. I left them to deal with it."

Chloe beamed. "You're here!"

"Yes. And," Aubrey grabbed Chloe's hand, and pulled her in the direction of the entryway of the house, where she had placed some bags. She pointed at a group of grease-stained paper bags. "Breakfast."

Chloe had tears in her eyes and freely flowing down her cheeks, refusing to let go of her death grip on Aubrey's hand. "Is it pie?"

"Of course it's pie." Aubrey said softly, well aware that this was Chloe's version of managing her emotions, focusing on something trivial to prevent others from becoming uncomfortable, even though Aubrey could see she was already crying. She squeezed Chloe's hand, despite Chloe's crushing hold. "I wouldn't forget pie."

It was a small thing, but it spoke of the duration and depth of their friendship: When Aubrey had still been in Barden, one of their favorite things to do was to drive around the limits of Georgia, looking for the best food and dessert there was to find, and Chloe's favorite thing to try in all the shops they found was their pie. For them, it was a few hours away from the pressure and expectation of being in college, and it was a hobby that had fallen by the wayside when Aubrey became obsessed with winning the ICCAs.

After finishing half of a cherry pie and stocking the fridge with the rest of Chloe's pastry bounty, she led a half-awake Aubrey back to her room despite the blonde's protests. Garment bag hung, Chloe sat on her bed and watched Aubrey sit on the edge of Stacie's bed to pull off her shoes. Her amusement when Stacie, even asleep, automatically moved aside to accommodate the blonde, was evident even to the sleepy entrepreneur.

"Shut up." Aubrey said simply in regards to Chloe's amusement, squinting at her phone to set an alarm. "I have to get some stuff from the school office, remind me to do that before the ceremony."

"I can't believe you're here."

Aubrey glanced up at her. "Where else would I be?"

Chloe grinned, and settled back in her own bed, hugging her pillow and facing the opposite bed. Then: "Aubrey?"

Aubrey answered with a sleepy murmur.

"You forgot my graduation gift."

Aubrey cracked one eye open to glare balefully at her, before reaching for the coat she'd unceremoniously dropped to the floor beside Stacie's bed, and pulled out a thin, bright blue square box. "Three years later."

Chloe stared at the box, not touching it. "Is that-?"

"Not uncut diamonds." Aubrey waved the box, prompting Chloe to claim it.

Chloe looked up at her. "This is..."

"Also _not_ a scrapbook of pictures." Aubrey nodded. "And less valuable."

"And you bought this three years ago?" Chloe asked, finally taking the box. She glanced at it, then back at Aubrey.

Aubrey yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "I had a job offer. Savings. And good memories to leave Barden with, thanks to you."

Chloe lifted the lid, and opened the bracelet pouch, and she smiled at the two charms on the silver bracelet: one a small disc with the letter B in elegant script, and the other a graduation cap. She glanced back at Aubrey, who had curled up into Stacie as if she belonged there. "Not to be ungrateful, because this is aca-awesome, but what did you get your girlfriend?"

"A shared apartment in Boston, she can deal without the bright blue box." Aubrey mumbled.

Stacie sat up quickly, suddenly wide-awake, and jostling the half-asleep Aubrey. "Who's getting Tiffany's when I'm not?"

Seemingly on auto-pilot, Aubrey grabbed her coat again, and handed another blue box to her bed partner. Then she threw her coat at Chloe, who didn't bother hiding her mirth. "Let me sleep."

Stacie paused and glanced down at Aubrey. "If I open this, how likely is it that we'll cause Chloe psychological damage?"

"Very."

Stacie placed the box under her pillow, and lay back down on her bed, wrapping an arm around the blonde.

Chloe paused for a moment, then: "Aubrey?"

"I love you too. Shut up, let me sleep."

Chloe grinned, and settled back into bed.

If the start of the day was any indication of how the day ahead was going to unfold, graduation was suddenly something she was looking forward to.

* * *

Lyrics borrowed from "We Are the World", written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson.


	3. It's Driven Me Before

A little less Chaubrey-centric, but this picks up on the Bellas' second full day at The Lodge at Fallen Leaves. There are references to Mixing the Bitter With the Sweet, and Welcome to The Lodge at Fallen Leaves.

And I just really wanted to address the Deus ex Machina that was the Bellas' performance at Worlds in PP2. (That said, spoilers for Pitch Perfect 2, obvs.)

.

* * *

"You know, my mom really loved performing with the Bellas."

Aubrey looked up from her review of The Lodge's schedule of activities for that day, and turned to look in confusion at Emily, who had sat down opposite her at one of the tables in The Lodge's common mess hall. She honestly didn't know if she was happy or sad that the young girl seemed to think warmly of her, even despite the previous day's shenanigans. She looked around, and saw Stacie trying to cajole something from Carl, the man in charge of the breakfast service, and saw the other Bellas in line at the breakfast buffet. She turned back to Emily, and smiled as sincerely as she could, despite her confusion on why Emily was talking to _her_. "It's a special time."

"That's what she keeps telling me." Emily nodded. "She has all these stories, you know? The whole time I was growing up, she'd tell me everything there was to know about the Barden Bellas, and that was all I really wanted to be."

"Hope you have a Plan B, because just because being a Bella's for life doesn't mean it has to be your _life_." Aubrey said, fully aware of her hypocrisy in making that statement.

"Don't be mean," Chloe said, nudging her as she sat down beside Aubrey.

"You two are the worst examples of making the Bellas your life." Fat Amy noted, sitting beside Lilly, who sat beside Chloe.

Aubrey glared at her, while Chloe only gave her an exasperated glance, before Chloe turned back to Emily. "Is your mom going to Worlds?"

"That's the plan," Emily admitted. "But I don't know. I think I'm a little worried to perform in front of her on that big a stage."

"She'll be one of hundreds of people." Aubrey commented, flipping through her work.

"Hey, no work at the table." Stacie reprimanded, setting a tray down on the table and sitting opposite Aubrey, making Emily move to the side.

Aubrey glanced at the contents of the tray. She looked up at Stacie. "You got Carl to make you a breakfast burrito?"

"Told him his boss wanted one." Stacie shrugged, slicing into the prepared burrito. "Turns out I can get a lot of things done around here saying that."

"Yeah... you couldn't have figured that before we all had to share one tent?" Jessica asked from beside Cynthia Rose, who sat at Emily's opposite side.

Stacie shrugged. "Why, I wasn't sleeping in it."

"I knew it!" Flo exclaimed, further down the table at the end of Stacie's side of the table.

"Did Aubrey invite us over and have a retreat just so she can have sex with her girlfriend?" Ashley wondered aloud from her seat opposite Flo.

"I don't know if I'm mortified, or proud of you right now." Chloe joked to Aubrey.

Cynthia Rose chuckled, and over Chloe and Emily's food, held her hand up to Aubrey. "Up top."

Aubrey gave her a skeptical look. Across from her, Stacie rolled her eyes, and took the offered high-five.

Emily frowned, and glanced from Aubrey, to Stacie, and back. "You're dating?"

"Almost two years." Stacie nodded.

"Two? Are you sure?" Flo, who had joined the Bellas the year after Aubrey graduated, questioned.

"Yeah, you were complaining last year that Aubrey wouldn't even commit to Christmas and you were missing out on pressies from your admirers." Fat Amy reminded.

Aubrey arched an eyebrow at Stacie, who gave her a pointed look, because they were both at fault on that particular situation.

"God, you two are insane." Cynthia Rose shook her head. "Girl just wants a yes or no, not how long you two have been together."

"But how long _has_ it been?" Ashley queried, because she'd lost track a long time ago.

Stacie and Aubrey again shared a glance, because their history _was_ convoluted; but Aubrey shrugged, and Stacie stuck with her timeline. "Yeah. Almost two."

Emily turned to the rest of the group. "Did you know about this?"

"Kind of hard to miss, Legacy." Fat Amy noted.

Lilly whispered something about the obliviousness of most freshman Bellas.

Emily frowned. "But what about-" she stopped herself abruptly, eyes wide, and glanced at Stacie and Aubrey.

"Everyone Stacie flirts with?" Aubrey guessed.

"It's called an open relationship for a reason." Stacie added for the freshman's benefit.

"Which is a lot less open than they imply." Jessica muttered loudly. Beside her, Ashley nodded her agreement. Sharing quasi-sober companion responsibilities over Stacie whenever they were at parties made the both of them more than aware of just how monogamous Stacie had actually been, despite the label of her relationship with Aubrey.

Emily's jaw hung limply, unsure of just what to say or do.

"Shut your mouth, Legacy." Fat Amy piped in.

"Why does Emily look like she's been scarred for life?" Beca asked, joining the table, squeezing in between Stacie and Emily and placing her laptop on the table. She turned to Chloe. "I have some mix ideas I want to run by you."

Chloe nodded, handing over her phone. "Upload the music, so I can listen to it on the ride home?"

Beca paused, startled. "I was thinking you can just plug into my laptop."

Chloe shook her head. "You have mixes to work on. Just load them in."

Beca's looked confused, but obliged. "Oh. Okay." She took the phone, and opened up her laptop to do as requested.

Chloe felt everyone's eyes on her, and knew exactly the reasons why, but she ignored them in favor of turning to Aubrey. "Hey, you took World Lit, right?"

Aubrey, surprised at Chloe's apparent disregard of Beca's eagerness to have Chloe listen to her mixes - a far cry from when she practically hijacked Aubrey's iPod when they were seniors just to force her to listen to Beca's mixes - could only respond to the question. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

"I'll send you a copy of my final paper for Russian Lit, can you look it over?" Chloe asked.

Aubrey smiled in affection, recognizing Chloe's question for what it was: she was officially taking the necessary steps to graduate. "Sure. But I never took Russian Lit, though."

"You're like a walking and talking literary lovechild of Chekhov and Tolstoy, I think you'll be fine."

Stacie, who had been taking a drink of her apple juice, choked at the assertion. She swallowed the drink down, and burst out laughing, clearly agreeing.

Aubrey frowned. "I don't think I like that comparison much."

"Wait," Beca looked up. "Aren't Russian protagonists like, usually over-dramatic and over-educated assholes with family issues?" She paused after saying it out loud, and the daughter of a college Literature professor bit her lip to keep from smiling.

Further down the table, Lilly and Ashley nodded their agreement to Chloe's statement as well.

Aubrey glared at Chloe, who looked back at her in wide-eyed innocence. Aubrey turned back to Emily, choosing to rise above Chloe's snappy retort, and saw the girl looking hopelessly lost. "Emily. You OK over there?"

Emily glanced at her, and nodded. She hadn't realized how much the Bellas had sheltered her this whole time until terms like 'open relationships' and casual references to Russian novels started being thrown about.

"Welcome to college, freshman." Cynthia Rose quipped.

"Aubrey," Fat Amy began, addressing the older blonde. "Not that I'm complaining, really the opposite, but I notice we weren't woken at the ass-crack of dawn by your shrill, high-pitched yelling."

Most of the rest of the Bellas groaned at the reminder.

"I told you last night: you've rediscovered your sound." Aubrey reminded. "My work is done."

"We can win Worlds?" Emily asked.

"Sure." Aubrey shrugged.

"We can defeat Das Sound Machine?" Ashley asked, skeptical.

Aubrey laughed. "No."

Stacie shot her a glare, while both Beca and Chloe looked at her in alarm.

"Then what the hell, Aubrey?" Beca asked.

Aubrey feigned innocence. "Oh, I'm sorry. Were you expecting me to lie?"

"Yes!" Chloe exclaimed.

Aubrey gave her a wary glance. "They're champions for a reason: they perform as a synchronized whole. Beca here couldn't even differentiate musical breakdowns and harmonizing to singing competition-worthy songs _yesterday_. If you want to win Worlds, you either beat them at their own game, or you give the judges something they've never seen before."

"Yeah, but other than a girl who can sing bass," Beca motioned to Chloe, "we've pretty much won on the power of our ability to remix."

"We have numbers." Jessica piped in, drawing everyone's attention. She motioned to Ashley. "We've been watching the competition. Most of the groups that are competing are five to six people."

"So we have more sound layers." Cynthia Rose concluded.

"Just like DSM." Flo commented.

"We can play the underdog card." Emily suggested.

Lilly shook her head, as did Chloe and Cynthia Rose.

"We've won three years in a row. We were performing for _the president_ when this disaster started." Cynthia Rose reminded.

"And this is a singing competition." Aubrey reminded. "Underdogs are nice and fun, but most of the time you reach a point where you start thinking to yourself, 'Please get off the stage: You're actually terrible and you're making me super uncomfortable.'"

Chloe turned to her. "Why are you being such a horrible person right now?"

"Someone has to be the bad guy." Aubrey pointed out. She gestured at Beca. "She's afraid to rock the boat right now, after her meltdown yesterday. You've just reached the calm after a storm. And all these other girls need a leader which neither of you can be right this second. So..."

"You are so hot right now." Stacie told her, lust evident in her voice and gaze.

"Dude." Beca shook her head at Stacie. "Keep it in your pants."

"So what are you suggesting?" Fat Amy asked Aubrey.

"Well, for starters, you can't sing Wrecking Ball while in suspension." Aubrey started. She motioned towards Cynthia Rose. "No pyrotechnics."

Beca looked up and gazed thoughtfully at Aubrey, as if the answers she needed could be found with the blonde. "We can't beat DSM in their own game."

"Well, we can't sing When I'm Gone." Chloe noted.

"But we can sing something else." Beca said, her gaze never leaving Aubrey.

"Something DSM can't deliver." Aubrey nodded.

Beca narrowed her eyes, almost squinting, before she finally nodded. She tore her gaze away from Aubrey, and finally noticed everyone else was having breakfast. She glanced at everyone's trays, before her gaze landed on Stacie's. "How'd you manage a breakfast burrito?"

"I'm sleeping with the boss." Stacie deadpanned.

Beca's eyes widened, and she leaned away. "Yeah, not doing that." She stood up, and went to get herself some food.

There was a lull in conversation as everyone's attention turned to the food - which was warm and freshly-cooked and so many times better than the oatmeal and juice Aubrey had made them eat the previous morning - until someone questioned why they hadn't competed in an international competition before.

"Don't." Stacie said quickly, cutting off whatever Aubrey had been about to say. This was a conversation they have had more than once ever since the idea had formed in Chloe's mind, and it never reflected well on anyone. She turned to the rest of the Bellas. "Please don't encourage her."

Aubrey raised her hands in mock-surrender, and opted to glance around the room, looking for a member of the staff to ask them to get her breakfast. Across from her, Stacie rolled her eyes, and pushed the plate of breakfast burrito closer to Aubrey, offering her fork. Aubrey smiled at her in gratitude.

"You nauseate me." Beca muttered to them.

"Jealous?" Stacie retorted. Beca ignored her.

Chloe looked up, and glanced around the table. She smiled to herself, and turned to Aubrey. "How can you not miss this?"

"I can have breakfast with a bunch of other people any time I want." Aubrey said flatly. She glared at Stacie for the swift kick she received under the table.

"Okay, clearly Aubrey is a machine that doesn't process emotions very well, because I know I'm gonna miss these nerds too." Beca turned to Emily. "Your mom doesn't reminisce about the Bellas, like, all the time, right?"

Emily snorted. "She almost named me Bella, if that's what you're not hoping to hear."

"That's the most cruel thing I've ever heard." Cynthia Rose stated.

Both Aubrey and Flo opened their mouths to change her mind, but Stacie held up her index finger to stall Aubrey while Fat Amy shook her head at Flo.

"You know, she would have loved competing at the World Championships, I'm sure." Emily nodded to herself, reflecting on her mother. "To perform with the Bellas again, you know?"

The Bellas all murmured in agreement. Their time with the Bellas had been a major life event for all of them.

"Too bad we can't call her in for Worlds," Cynthia Rose noted.

"Well, technically, you could." Aubrey said idly as she checked her phone for incoming messages.

The whole group stopped, and all turned to look at her.

Aubrey paused at the scrutiny, and glanced at all the women sharing her table. "What?"

"What are you talking about?" Chloe asked.

Aubrey turned to Beca. "Bella by-law regarding membership."

Beca gave her a blank look.

"When we say 'Bellas for life' it's not lip service. It actually states in the by-laws that we can be called upon to represent the Bellas at any time if needed." Aubrey explained. She scrutinized the rest of the occupants of her table. "Seriously, it's in the official rules of the Barden Bellas."

"And how does that work out for Worlds?" Fat Amy questioned.

Aubrey frowned at them. "Didn't any of you read the rules and regulations of Worlds?"

"Chloe did." Flo pointed.

"I mostly just skimmed it." Chloe admitted to Aubrey.

Aubrey stared at her for a full beat, trying to figure out if Chloe was understating what she knew about the World Championships, before deciding to inform the rest, anyway. "You're technically not just the Barden Bellas anymore."

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked curiously, thus proving Aubrey right in assuming they were seriously uninformed on the rules of the Worlds.

Jessica suddenly dropped her fork. "Rule number five."

Everyone turned to the blonde on the opposite end of the table.

Jessica glanced at Aubrey, as if in confirmation of the information she was spouting. "We're representing the USA, not just Barden. The rules of the ICCAs no longer apply."

"Like?" Flo prompted.

Ashley stared at Jessica. "Like all members of the group should be collegiate students attending Barden."

Jessica nodded at her, then turned to Aubrey. "It means some of the rules that pertain to the ICCAs don't apply anymore, right?"

"But we qualified as national champions because of the ICCAs." Beca reminded.

"Governing rules of the Worlds are different." Aubrey demurred.

Everyone turned back to Aubrey.

"Seriously, ladies, read the rules." Aubrey told them.

Beca stared at her. "But that's real? You're serious?"

"Dixie Chicks serious." Aubrey nodded.

"Have I mentioned how hot your attention to detail with rules are?" Stacie asked Aubrey, and they exchanged a smile over a private joke only they knew.

"But won't that be a technicality?" Cynthia Rose asked, unaware of the communication between Aubrey and Stacie and effectively interrupting it. "We applied as being from Barden."

"Yeah, but if you can prove, like Emily's mom here, that she's as much a Barden Bella as the rest of you, then there's no problem." Aubrey pointed out. "Again: by-laws." She looked at Emily sternly. "Read the by-laws, do you hear me?"

Emily nodded quickly.

"We can really just haul in any past Bella for this?" Flo questioned. As an aside, she told the Bellas closest to her, "my relatives used to haul us children to work in the mornings."

"We could meet or beat DSM in the numbers game with this." Fat Amy noted. "If we get a lot of past Bellas."

"Like you." Chloe added, turning to Aubrey, who had engaged in a silent conversation with Stacie, but still registered what Chloe had said.

Aubrey knew better than to look at Chloe, fully aware that she would be on the receiving end of the wide-eyed puppy-dog expression of 'my best friend should be present for my Barden Bellas swan song', but she had always been a sucker for Chloe's drama, and so she stupidly glanced at the redhead. And there it was: Chloe's earnest expression and the annoyingly guileless wide-eyed innocence of her Disney Princess blue eyes, and Aubrey had no choice but to relent. "Like me."

Beca kept staring at Aubrey, the cogs of her brain starting to work with this new piece of information.

"Back off, Mitchell, this aca-genius is mine." Stacie warned, seeing Beca's apparent heart-eyes for Aubrey at that moment.

Beca turned to Stacie, and blinked. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I think I want to kiss her right now."

That was Stacie's turn to blink. "I think I might be OK with that."

Aubrey, who had turned back to her breakfast, lifted her fork in Beca's direction. "You're on my shit list for not reading the by-laws, Frodo. Go kiss the people on your team who actually read the rules."

Beca turned in Jessica's direction.

Ashley glared at her. "Don't even think about it."


End file.
